Safe word: “Conversion Bureau is the work of a sociopath!”

As a Game Master running several villains and their insidious master plans I am intrigued by Conversion Celestia. Whether or not she caused the Conversion, she will end up with entire continents and billions of new-foals to rule over. And she doesn't have to risk any of her own ponies for it. Fresh blood, culture and technology is added to Equestria with every passing day.
If she wants to then she could even monologue all day about the Greater Good.

I think it's the a perfect example of the Xanatos Gambit.
She has already won. Nothing to be done about it unless you retcon the story and let nukes or even humanity past the Barrier. As a GM, I see a perfect villain. Even if the players sympathize with her, her world is still destroying ours so they must fight.

2131160 I despise this sub-genre. There is a reason I refuse to touch it with a ten foot pole. There are good stories in it, but I do not feel like sifting through tons of self-righteous self-hating garbage to find the one diamond in the rough.
Although, I will agree that TCB-Celestia is a perfect villain. Almost reminds me of an inter-dimensional Hitler, or Darkseid.

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Funny you mention TCB from a GM perspective. I made a microlite 20 system for TCB and am acknowledged as one of the "founders" of TCB (Invited the PER). Xenolestia however isn't really something seen in "true" tcb but is just that trope merging with TCB. You can play with it if you want though and I can Provide links if you wish.

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I can help if you wish. The best story in the entire sub genre is Last Man Standing. Thats what the genre was and is as intended.

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Actually, Conversion Bureau was originally the work of a guy trying for 'wish fulfillment' (being able to use magic, becoming friends with the Mane Six, all that), and failing miserably. The original author himself isn't really anti-human, just a rather poor writer. The whole thing just managed to strike the more unstable and scary part of the Brony fandom, the part that missed the whole 'love and tolerate' message of the show, and instead got 'ponies are better than humans in every way'.

But yeah, great villain. Though, exactly how invincible she is depends on the setting. If the ponification process doesn't change people's minds, then you have agents sneaking in and maybe assassinating her, or bombing Canterlot, or whatever. In, a verse in which the serum altered your mind to make you pro-pony and nothing human got through the barrier, the players would be pretty much screwed.

A pretty cool setting to play in might be the TBC: Not Alone setting, in which enough explosions can crack the barrier, and the serum does alter your mind. Interesting, and the story's cool too. It's no longer on FIM fiction, but there's a TV tropes page.

Personally, I don't that TCB Celestia is a pony. I think she's actually an extradimensional psychic parasite, nourished by the adoration given off by her followers. She targets species that are on the brink of extinction and offers them salvation in the form of conversion, which expands her food supply.

2131339

wtf?

That's so out of left field only because there can be a perfectly legitimate reasoning in just saying that Celestia is dark of heart.

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I would like those links. The entire setting can be flipped around in so many ways.

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Yes, it's not one of my favorite universes, but playing her is wonderful. All my players have to do is wait for the monologue and start shooting ^^
Except that by the end, I had actually convinced them Celestia was in the right and they turned sides

2131312
Thank you, I will read that one.

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You know, that actually makes sense. A demon/deity letting host minds run her as a virus runs on computers and then take them in.

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What?

2131261 I'll take a look. Sorry if my view seemed hostile, but my take on TCB has been poisoned by certain authors, and actually served as a catalyst for me to join the Humans Aren't Bastards group. Thanks .

2131373 Yes, clearly the moral lesson is to join the pastel-colored equine Nazis.

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Oh yeah, so many ways to put a spin on the whole premise.

The Main Doc
Beastiary
RPG Items

Its still in beta and shit though, but I'm always looking for suggestions.

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This is unrelated, but your avatar makes my head spin.

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Anytime man, I got a laundry list of good non bias fics if ya want them

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In essence, I told them that it was their own fault for playing with black holes. Humanity is like a cave dweller who breached the walls and let in the river. Equestria is a higher plane thus it seeps through. I never said Ponykind was better, just that in Equestria Nature is tamed thus little wars over resources. The culture is already harmonious so peer pressure would make new-foals live peacefully.

Instead of plugging the hole, they realize that yes, I am right. Let's help mankind adjust.

2131419
Thank you, I really like that one. Fey all the way.

2131483
Uh, what?

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Oh, in response to the reaction my avatar has on you. When I wait for a comment, I amuse myself with watching it move.

2131408>>2131566

What?

Uh, what?

Huh?

2131631
It's like it's moving or something.

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Pfft. Avatars can't move. Or can they?
You should see it when there is an enite thread full of comments with it.

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i think people hate the tcb genre because some of its authors are batshit insane misanthropes who think that we would all be better off if we either a) died or b) were ponified immediately and anyone who disagrees with them is an evil terro--er, internet bully with a grudge against them personally, and all of this is reflected in their work, which is generally considered defining material for the tcb, especially by the aforementioned author or authors themselves, and also the fact that some of these authors have stirred up so much personal drama and spent so much time mixing it with legitimate fanfiction discussions that it's become an inseparable part of the subfandom lore, and additionally because a few of said authors are so paranoid they try to chase out anyone who is a terr--i mean person of differing opinion, thus making the subgenre's finer parts largely inaccessible to those who don't spend a good portion of their time brown-nosing unpleasant, unsociable shut-ins with persecution complexes

or maybe it's aliens

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didn't chatoyance make a completely weird-ass sequel to this
or was that another fic i'm thinking of

2132027

It was another fic.

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I concur. The idea itself is intriguing. Two sides who can justify themselves but are capable of atrocities. As the GM, I could talk up the ponies as the healers of the earth and the humans as barbaric defilers.
However, I am playing the villain. I do not have to be right All I have to do is to be a target for the players and make it interesting.

As a setting, the entire genre can make for many different scenarios. War, philosophy, romance, and clop of course .

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TCB presents loads of game possibilities.

We should swap notes at some point.

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Actually, I have been making an Rp based on my new story. It draws heavily from DnD and Changeling the Lost.

I checked out the links you gave me, but the Main doc links back to this thread.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XTIaphB0TEF-lqfJpNpPv_-aJ2Al-GErMtVEKEX8FxQ/edit

Try that.

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Wait, can you use gifs for avatars?

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I don't think so. Images only, right? But illusions move by themselves.

I've never read a single piece of TCB fiction. I despise the idea.

You know what I do want? With all this fanwanking over how ponies are better than humans and how Equestria is paradise, I want a fic where the humans win the war, conquer Equestria, nuke Canterlot for good measure, and make Celestia watch as they colonise their beautiful world. Human fanwanking ahoy!

And they shall be called... the XCOM Project.

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Here it is. Press the link. It's not called the XCOM Project, though.

2132461
Or, just go read an absolutely amazing XCOM Crossover, and forget all that.

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Like 2132156, I have actually written stories set in the TCB scenario. My first TCB story was Last Man Standing. So I was surprised when I saw the hate being sent the way of TCB stories. Reading some more I discovered that - surprise, surprise - there was quite a wide variety of takes on TCB and stories to reflect those PoVs, some which where decidedly misanthropic, and the vast majority of them that weren't.
The biggest problem for the TCB's reputation is the original story, which suffered more from mediocre writing than outright 'humans are bastards' syndrome. And then other fanfic authors, seeing its potential for drama, wrote their own. News flash: Fan-fiction bends canon! Video at 11!

Of course part of the dramatic potential of the setting is the way it could set up Celestia to be the perfect villain (as you suggested) or in my usual take, the perfect victim:
- the earth will be absorbed into Equestria, and there is nothing anyone or anypony can do about it.
- magic is poisonous to humans - a solution must be found that let's them survive, or be resigned to friend ship intensive Equestrians watching as billions die
- if a way is found to make Equestria safe for humans, Celestia, as a responsible head-of-state has to figure out how to make emigration happen without completely destroying the ecology, economy and culture of Equestria as a best case, and as a worst case preventing an outright invasion by a numerically and technologically far superior culture.

A lot depends on Celestia's own ethical viewpoint and the extent of her feelings of responsibility for the welfare of her citizens.

And by the way, like with any fan subgroup, the best way to separate the dreck from the gold is to read a few stories, and when you find one you like, check the comments to see for recommendations of other stories, or PM the author and ask for recommendations.

2132847 If it has over 100k words, it ain't for me. You shouldn't need that many words to tell a coherent narrative -- not in simple genre fiction anyway, IMO. You go longer than that, I'll feel like you're making it up as you go along.

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Fair enough. Can't say I share your opinion in any way, shape or form though.

There's nothing I like more than to curl up with a long, involved epic.

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Thank you for your input. The reason why I managed to convince my players is because I believe Celestia to be a victim of circumstance here. The influx of new ponies is actually endangering her lands from not only the topics you brought up but also the other races of the MLP world. They feel threatened by how fast the ponies are developping, both in numbersand technology; War is coming to Equestria. Hence the reason why she let herself be ambushed by the players. The players were supposed to stop the Conversion, not join it.
The idea of leading armies against invading Griffin and Minotaur to defend the reborn humans appeals them.

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I debated adding the other races to the list. I personally think that that adds an extra dimension to the drama, particularly if Celestia has taken heat for 'letting these other creatures in,"

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Not only that. The ponies were just civilized pacifist prey before. Diamond dogs, dragons, changelings,etc, never had reason to fear the herbivore herd creatures. Now they do, even if that is not Celestia's wish.